Description
Time evolution of a free particle's Gaussian wave packet, |Ψ(x, t)|², illustrating its spreading and quantum interference pattern as the mass, velocity, initial position, and Planck constant vary.
Physical model
The Gaussian packet has a known analytical time evolution: its width increases over time (spreading), a purely quantum effect absent from classical mechanics and related to the uncertainty principle—the more localized the initial packet, the greater its momentum uncertainty and the faster it spreads.
Developers
Marco P. M. de Souza
References
D. J. Griffiths, Mecânica quântica (Prentice Hall, 2011).